Pennsylvania

About a month after the first medical marijuana products were sold in Pennsylvania, the state Department of Health is preparing to roll out the permitting process for a second round of businesses.The health department will issue up to 13 permits to grow and process marijuana and 23 permits to dispense medical marijuana products later this year. It will release regulations Friday morning and will make applications available April 5. Applications for both permit categories are due May 17.The health department will issue up to three permits to dispensary applicants located in the 10-county Northeast region, which includes the Lehigh Valley, Scranton/Wilkes Barre and Hazleton. It will issue one grower/processor permit to the highest-scoring applicant statewide, and then up to two permits in each of the six regions. So, the Northeast region could get up to three more growing and processing operations.The Medical Marijuana Act of 2016 gave the health department permission to issue 25 … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania licensing more medical marijuana growers, dispensaries later this year

It takes two people to lift Connell Bounty, paralyzed and proudly clad in an Eagles jersey and hat. Since a life-changing car accident in 2016, it’s been hard for him to get comfortable.Bounty, 42, a former warehouse worker and Emmaus resident, relies on his girlfriend and brother for everything.“When your heart is here and you’re trying to hold down another job, it’s not ideal,” said Bounty’s girlfriend of seven years, Donna Lardani.Thanks to a state public assistance program, she doesn’t ever have to be more than a couple of feet away from him. Lardani and Bounty’s brother, Raasheem, are paid through a Lehigh Valley home care agency to look after Connell Bounty, an arrangement that helps a high-turnover industry fill jobs and allows family members to earn money while caring for a loved one.Home care workers are non-medical professionals who help elderly, disabled or sick people do everyday things like shower, cook, eat and shop.From … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania needs home health care workers as demand for service grows

Support for stricter gun control spiked in Pennsylvania after a gunman killed 17 students and staff at a Florida high school, according to a Muhlenberg College opinion poll released Wednesday.But with the Florida shooting spurring discussion about whether mentally ill people should be barred from owning guns, the stigma around mental illness may be increasing, the poll showed.Seven in 10 Pennsylvanians want stricter gun control, a significant increase from three previous surveys in which less than half respondents supported stricter gun control. Support for background checks also reached an all-time high of 96 percent. And 9 out of 10 said that if a mental health professional reports someone to law enforcement as dangerous, that person should be barred from buying a gun.Since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, activism around gun control has intensified, resulting in a nationwide student walkout Wednesday for stronger gun … [Read more...] about Growing support in Pennsylvania for stricter gun laws, Muhlenberg College poll finds

Overdoses in Pennsylvania emergency rooms nearly doubled from 2016 to 2017, making it one of the hardest hit states in the opioid crisis, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Nationwide, emergency room visits for overdoses increased 30 percent from July 2016 to September 2017. In Pennsylvania, the increase was 81 percent. The rise came amid a coordinated effort to bring down opioid deaths, highlighting the stubborn stranglehold of addiction on a growing number of people.“This fast-moving epidemic affects both men and women, and people of every age. It does not respect state or county lines and is still increasing in every region in the United States.” CDC Acting Director Dr. Anne Schuchat said in a statement.Significant overdose increases occurred in the Midwest, followed by the West and Northeast, with the highest jumps in metropolitan areas. But some states such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island … [Read more...] about Overdoses in Pennsylvania emergency rooms increase dramatically, according to CDC report

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has issued new regulations for medical marijuana clinical research programs.The regulations, released Friday, outline the process for an accredited medical school with an acute care hospital to become an approved “Academic Clinical Research Center” that can engage in medical marijuana-related research projects with “clinical registrants,” an entity that can grow, process and dispense medical marijuana.The regulations also detail the application process for prospective clinical registrants, how research studies are reviewed and approved and how researchers may interact with the commercial medical marijuana market. The health department will approve a maximum of eight clinical registrants.According to Rachel Levine, acting health secretary and physician general, Pennsylvania is the first and only state in the nation to institute such a program. State legislators who supported the 2016 medical marijuana law envisioned the state … [Read more...] about Pennsylvania issues regulations for medical marijuana clinical research programs